Archie Griffin Sidelined for ‘Considerable’ Period Following Shoulder Injury

Wales and Bath prop Archie Griffin will be sidelined for a “considerable” period due to a shoulder injury sustained earlier this month. He has only featured in one Premiership game for Bath this season. The 23-year-old sustained the injury on December 10 during the 24-20 Champions Cup loss to La Rochelle and has since had surgery. Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan confirmed the extent of the absence to BBC Radio Somerset, stating: “He’ll be out for a considerable amount of time.” Van Graan added, “He’s had a bit of bad luck over the last few months since he made his Welsh debut so we’ll look after him in the coming months.” He further commented on the recovery process, saying, “It’ll be a longish process but with Rory Murray [head of medical] and his team here at the club they’ll look after him very well and hopefully we’ll see an even better player than he is right now.” Griffin made his international debut for Wales during the Six Nations in the spring and has accumulated six caps, including recent appearances against Fiji, Australia, and South Africa this autumn. Wales is scheduled to commence their 2025 Six Nations campaign in six weeks, with an away match against France on January 31. This season, Griffin’s Premiership appearances for Bath have been restricted to a single game on the opening weekend, following which he received a diagnosis of pericarditis, a condition characterized by inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart.